Yellowhammer Times

There were 20 deaths with COVID-19 listed as the underlying cause reported in Alabama during the week ending July 3, a 28.6 percent decrease from the previous week, according to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the week ending July 3, there were 1,021 deaths in the state. 23.5 percent of deaths were caused by heart disease, 19.7 percent were from cancer and 4 percent were from COVID-19. Additionally, 7.7 percent of deaths were from Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

Studies show doctors and medical examiners may underreport Alzheimer's disease and dementia-related conditions as the underlying cause of death on death certificates, according to the National Institute on Aging.

Once infected, older adults with dementia are likely to develop a more severe and dangerous illness. The diseases which make an older adult more vulnerable to COVID-19 are age-associated chronic conditions, according to the Bright Focus Foundation.

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-03	Number of Deaths 2021-06-26
Heart disease	240	275
Malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumor)	201	162
Cerebrovascular diseases	71	63
Alzheimer's disease	46	28
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	44	67
Diabetes mellitus	24	34
COVID-19 (multiple cause)	21	35
COVID-19 (underlying cause)	20	28
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis	19	20
Influenza and pneumonia	13	16

Cause of Death	Number of Deaths 2021-07-03	Number of Deaths 2021-06-26
Alzheimer disease and dementia	79	69